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Social Anxiety and the Vigilance-Avoidance Pattern of Attentional Processing

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  29 November 2004

Stephanos Ph. Vassilopoulos
Affiliation:
University of Patras, Greece

Abstract

A modified version of the probe detection task was used to investigate the time course of attentional biases for emotional words in high and low socially anxious individuals. Word pairs were presented at two exposure durations, 200 and 500 msec, in order to investigate the different components of attentional bias in anxiety (e.g., vigilance or avoidance of threat). There was evidence of an attentional bias favouring initial vigilance towards (social and physical) threat words and subsequent avoidance of the same stimuli in high social anxiety. In contrast, low socially anxious individuals did not exhibit an attentional preference. The interaction of social anxiety and exposure duration for threat words remained when controlling for general negative affect. Theoretical and clinical implications of the results are discussed.

Type
Research Article
Copyright
2005 British Association for Behavioural and Cognitive Psychotherapies

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